My Process:
I have found that using leaves to make initial marks on paper or canvas can be a magical process. Over the years, I have experimented with image making by using acrylic, watercolours and ink painted on to all kinds of leaves and then pressed to a surface. Sometimes the results are dynamic and detailed or the impression left can be lackluster requiring tedious work for the marks to be visually interesting.
I scrounge for leaves in the winter, I often dig under the snow for some beautiful specimens. I have wonderful friends who bring me bags of leaves from their gardens
during the growing season. I have found that freezing leaves allows me more play in the snowy winter months. My husband says we have no meat in our freezer as it is full of leaves....and he loves me still :)
I have experimented with applying pressure to get the paint to release and merge on the paper; rolling with a brayer, applying a paper-towel over the leaf and pressing gently with my fingers to fully weighting the leaves down overnight.
My husband recently cut me some railroad track in small sections to use as weights.....boy are they heavy! I apply a solid surface weight cover of acrylic sheet over the leaf and then plywood over the acrylic. I place my railroad track on top of this layer overnight to let the paint seep into the paper and do its magic.......
I have found that using leaves to make initial marks on paper or canvas can be a magical process. Over the years, I have experimented with image making by using acrylic, watercolours and ink painted on to all kinds of leaves and then pressed to a surface. Sometimes the results are dynamic and detailed or the impression left can be lackluster requiring tedious work for the marks to be visually interesting.
I scrounge for leaves in the winter, I often dig under the snow for some beautiful specimens. I have wonderful friends who bring me bags of leaves from their gardens
during the growing season. I have found that freezing leaves allows me more play in the snowy winter months. My husband says we have no meat in our freezer as it is full of leaves....and he loves me still :)
I have experimented with applying pressure to get the paint to release and merge on the paper; rolling with a brayer, applying a paper-towel over the leaf and pressing gently with my fingers to fully weighting the leaves down overnight.
My husband recently cut me some railroad track in small sections to use as weights.....boy are they heavy! I apply a solid surface weight cover of acrylic sheet over the leaf and then plywood over the acrylic. I place my railroad track on top of this layer overnight to let the paint seep into the paper and do its magic.......
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Grape Leaves collected at my Cashmere studio:
A few clips of a video of the leaf process in the studio, leaves doing their magic.......... |
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"When shared with the world, paintings find life nudging others in the direction of their own insides. That's what art does." Sara Genn